All is well here in the desert. I was able to get away today to workout during lunch. I need to buy some actual boxing gloves because the weightlifting gloves are not enough. They work for about 10-15 minutes but after that my hands start blistering. I’m definitely going to buy some or order some today because 30 minutes of heavy bag boxing equals knuckle blisters without gloves.

Yesterday, we had a two star Army General that went very well. We ended up having an informal dinner at the dining facility where about 8 General Officers attended. I was in charge of the logistics of the trip down to arranging the General and his staff lodging, scheduling all of the events of the day to include meetings, office calls, and ceremonies, and lastly picking up and dropping off at the airport. One thing that I learned yesterday is that I am also in charge of the safety and security of the Generals once we venture off base camp. I carried my M9 with me to the airport and back just as a force protection measure.

Very busy here and between the different routes into Afghanistan, diplomatic negotiations with neighboring Afghan nations, and the Iraq drawdown we will be very busy through the summer. We, as a unit, have some very exciting trips coming up around the area that I will take part in at least some of them. They include Jordan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Dubai, Al Asad Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, Krgyzstan, and multiple locations in Afghanistan. Some very interesting places!

In my position here as deputy chief of staff, it has given me the opportunity to think about leadership and motivation a great deal. The library here had a great book about motivation that states external motivators don’t work as well in the end. As an example, people may be less motivated if they have to do something than if they are told or are exploring something. Wikipedia is one example they use where literally millions of people work for free and it is the most well known encyclopedia even over corporate one.

I agree that intrinsic motivation brings out much more in people, military and civilian alike. Although people like to be recognized for what they do, they also like to have autonomy and the ability to own projects, experiment, spend time to think, and set their own goals. Anyway, that is my rant and something that I am thinking about a lot. We have a really good group of people here that I am working with from all branches of service and DOD civilians. The DOD civilians where tan desert uniforms with DOD civilian on then
 

A DOD civilian in the back with tan desert fatigues.  He works ammo moves for my unit and sort of looks like a pirate with his goatee and earing.  Picture is at a morale center where civilian clothes and near beer (no alcohol) is allowed.